Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) Porker of the Month for inserting a provision in the Fiscal 2009 National Defense Authorization Act that gives earmarks contained in the act’s committee report the force of law. President Bush issued an Executive Order on January 29, 2008 instructing government agencies not to fund any earmarks contained in committee reports, or based on any other non-statutory source, such as phone calls from members of Congress. In a brazen attempt to gut the Executive Order, Sen. Levin’s provision incorporates the earmarks listed in the authorization bill’s committee report into the statute itself, making the earmarks “a requirement in law.” For attempting to circumvent the president’s Executive Order and make earmarking the taxpayers' money easier, CAGW names Sen. Levin the September 2008 Porker of the Month.